m&&  **  ;■ ;:,%       ^9 


f  E  0  I  ME  N  S      0  * 


WOOD    JsSlG  RAYI^t 


>s\/-,    '• 


-  fiOsjt&^Tiy 


f7f7£& 


V*Sf. 


Atl^fiy.        jC  ^J.-.jtfs, 


4^° 


A/E /zso 
M6, 


,.r; 


*3fff 


Sancho  came  back  to  Don  Quixote's  house,  and  resuming  his  former  discourse,  said, 
in  answer  to  what  the  batchelor  Sampson  Carrasco  desired  to  be  informed  of, — namely, 
by  whom,  when,  and  how  the  ass  was  stolen,  "  That  very  night,  when  flying  from  ihe 
holy  hermandad,  we  entered  the  Sierra  Morena,  after  the  unlucky  adventure  of  the 
galley-slaves,  and  of  the  dead  body,  that  was  being  carried  to  Segovia,  my  master  and  I 
gol  id  to  a  thicket,  where,  he  leaning  upon  his  lance  and  1  sitting  upon  my  beast,  being 
Both  of  us  mauled  and  fatigued  by  our  late  skirmishes,  we  fell  asleep  as  soundly  as  if  we 
had  had  four  feather-beds  under  us.  Especially  I,  for  my  part,  slept  so  fast  thai  the 
thief,  whoever  he  was,  had  leisure  enough  to  suspend  me  on  four  stakes,  which  he 
pi  inted  under  the  four  corners  of  the  panuel,  and  leaving  me  mounted  thereon,  in  this 
mannei  gol  Dapple  from  under  me  without  my  feeling  it." 


fUIITIESITYj 


"a    ss 


>     £     « 

"    i    » 

cr     d      | 

|    is  J 


)   £  I] 


o  I  s  g>n.  S  s 


[uiivirsxtt; 


SNOWY   OWL. 


Surma.  Generic  Characters. — Head  not  furnished  with  tufts  of 
feathers.  Beak  curved  from  the  base  ;  nostrils  large,  oval  ;  cere 
small.  Facial  disk  incomplete.  Auditory  opening  small.  Wings 
of  moderate  size  :  the  third  quill-feather  generally  the  longest.  Tail 
rather  long.  Legs  and  toes  thickly  covered  with  feathers;  claws 
long,  curved,  and  sharp — Yarrell's  British  Birds. 


XV. 

Some  village  Hampden,  that,  with  dauntless  breast, 

The  little  tyrant  of  his  fields  withstood  ; 
Some  mute,  inglorious  Milton,  —  here  may  rest; 

Some  Cromwell,  guiltless  of  his  country's  blood. — Gray's  Elegy. 


Jf 


■ 


¥4S*   0?  THE 

[UIIVBRSI' 


5?-*3? 


01  TBDR 


riiviasiTTl 


MAI 


DON    QUIXOTE   AND    THE    MERCHANTS   OF  TOLEDO. 


SANCHO    PANZA. 


fnfI71RSIT7 


li 


■ 


! 


LE  JARDIN  DU  PARIA  AU  LEVER  DE  L'ATJRORE. 


■^   0»  THS        ■ 

[U1TIVBESIT7] 


<•      A  iJ 


PAUL   ET   VIRGINIE   RETROUVES   DANS   LA   FORET   PAR    FIDELE. 


[WIVERSITT] 

c   -■■"'-  : 


Monsieur  Jourdain.— Nicole  ! 

Nicole.— Plait-il? 

Monsieur  Jourdain.— Ecoutez. 

Nicole,    (riant)— Hi,  hi,  hi,  hi,  hi. 

Monsieur  Jourdain. — Qu'as  tu  a  rire  ? 

Nicole.— Hi,  hi,  hi,  hi,  hi,  hi. 

Monsieur  Jourdain.— Que  veut  dire  cette  coquine-la  > 

Nicole.— Hi,  hi,  hi.     Comme  vous  voila  bati !    Hi,  hi,  hi ! 

Monsieur  Jourdain.— Comment  done  ? 

Nicole.— Ah  !  ah  !     Mon  Dieu  !     Hi,  hi,  hi,  hi,  hi. 

Monsieur  JouRDAiN.-Quelle  friponne  est-cela?    Te  moques-tu  de  mo. ! 

Nicole.— Nenni,  Monsieur,  j'en  serois  bien  ttchee.     Hi,  hi,  hi,  hi,  hi. 

Monsiuer  JouRDAiN.-Je  te  baillerai  sv.r  le  nez,  si  tu  ris  riavantage. 


Iicole.— Monsieur,  je  ne  pins  pas  m  en  empeo 


her.     Hi,  hi,  hi,  hi,  hi,  hi 


Le  Btmrye 


Itilh: 


VII7KISIT7] 


"■y^  OF  1KB  ^^ 


Ami  lit-  that,  was  nt   niiltlt'.st  iiuinil  ih,|  slnye  the  othei  their , 

\  nli  n  an  unfrequented  wood,  while  babes  did  quake  foi  ■.  a,. 


rfy*   Of  XHS 


of  rat 


5» 


"  Having  oaten  the  date,  he  threw  aside  the  stone  and  im- 
mediately there  appeared  before  him  an'Efreet  of  enormous 
height,  who,  holding  a  drawn  sword  in  his  hand,  approached 
him." — Merchant  <ni<l  the  Jinnee. 


■4 

I 

m 


<■&. 


% 


»4^ 


GIVE    THANKS   UNTO   THE   LORD,  for  he  is  gracious: 

and  his  mercy  endureth  for  ever. 
Hungry  and  thirsty:  their  soul  fainted  in  them. 
They  tliat  go  down  to  the  sea  in  ships:    and  occupy  their 

business  in  the  great  waters. 
These  men  see  the  works  of  the  Lord  :  and  his  wonders 

in  the  deep. 
For  at  his  word  the  stormy  wind  ariseth  which  lifteth  up 

the  waves  thereof. 


INCHESTER    CATHEDRAL. 


>vkp*  o*  this    *3^ 

[UKXVBRSITY] 


Their  uncle  having  dyed  in  gao 
Where  he  for  debt   was  layd  — 


^•^   0?  THB     ^^ 

[UII7BRSIT7] 


■**•  THB       '^ 


*G*  THI 


.IF©*?: 


<> 


"■■-  S^! 


M  rao 


I7BRSIIT 


BLACK    BEAR. 


:W-p^v^C 


DRAWN    HY    T.   LANDSEEU.  ENGRAVED    BY    E.    LANDELLS. 

(shoberl's  natural  history  of  quadrupeds.) 


01  IH1 


VILLAGE   OF   CASTRJ,    ON    THE    SITE    OF   THE 


AQUEDUCT   AT    MYTELENE. 


HOUSE    OF   CAPO   D'ISTRIA. 


'"SsfeS   ' 


DISTANT    VIEW    OF    CORFU. 


j^B-£|g! 


or 


IVBRSIT7] 


LOUP  PLAlDANT  CONTRE  LE  RENARD,  PAR-DEVANT  LE  SINGE. 


Un  loup  disoit  que  Ton  l'avait  vole : 
Un  renard,  son  voisin,  d'assez  mauvaise  vie, 
Pour  ce  pretendu  vol  par  lui  fut  appele. 

Devant  le  singe  il  fut  plaide, 
Non  point  par  avocats,  mais  par  chaque  partie. 

Themis  n'avoit  point  travaille, 
De  memoire  de  singe,  a  fait  plus  embrouille. 
Le  magistrat  suoit  en  son  lit  de  justice. 

Apres  qu'on  eut  bien  eonteste, 

Replique,  crie,  tempete, 

Le  juge,  instruit  de  leur  malice, 
Leur  dit :  Je  vous  connois  de  long-temps,  mes  amis  ; 

Et  tous  deux  vous  paierez  l'amende: 
Car  toi,  loup,  tu  te  plains,  quoiqu'on  ne  fait  rien  pris ; 
Et  toi,  renard,  as  pris  ce  que  Ton  te  demande. 
Le  juge  pretendoit  qu'a  tort  et  a  travers 
On  ne  sauroit  manquer,  condamnant  un  pervers. 


^>  Of  TUB 

[USIVERSIT7] 


[tWVBXLSITY] 


tip"  of  las^^S 
[WIVBESITfl 


THE    BRAZEN    LAYER. 


FIELD   VOL 


I.WVK'S    BILL   TUUTI.K. 


J     ■:: 


[VIIVBESITr] 


9^3  •r:'-"->? 


0?  TB3 


&JTIVBR! 


.a-A.;^ 


2p 

flJirlVB&SITTj 


THE 

LONDON  AND  WESTMINSTER 
REVIEW. 


Art.  I. — 1.  A  new  Translation  of  the  Arabian  Nights'  Enter- 
tainments. By  Edward  William  Lane.  Illustrated  with  many 
hundred  Wood-cuts.  Parts  I,  II,  and  III.  Royal  8vo. 
London,  1838. 

2.  Paul  et  Virginie  et  La  Chaumiere  Indienne.  Par  Bernardin 
de  St  Pierre.  Ouvrage  orne  de  magnifiques  Vignettes.  Royal 
8vo.     London  and  Paris,  1838. 

3.  Greece;  Pictorial,  Descriptive,  and  Historical.  Royal  8vo. 
(unpublished.) 

4.  CEuvres  Completes  de  Moliere,  avec  600  gravures  sur  bois  par 
Tony  Johannot.     2  vols,  royal  8vo.     Paris,  1838. 

5.  Scripture  Illustrations  on  Steel  and  Wood.  4to.  Parts  I  to 
VIII.     London,  1838, 

6.  Histoire  de  Gil  Bias  de  Santillane,  Par  Le  Sage.  Vig- 
nettes par  Jean  Gigoux.     Royal  8vo.     Paris,  1836. 

7.  Elegy  written  in  a  Country  Churchyard.  Illustrated  with 
Wood-cuts.     8vo.     London,  1836. 

8.  Solace  of  Song.     8vo.     London,  1836. 

9.  Pictorial  Booh  of  Common  Prayer.  Illustrated  with  many 
hundred  Wood-cuts.  Royal  8vo.  Parts  I  to  X.  London, 
1838. 

T^HOUGH  the  word  'engraving'  is  applied  alike  to  impres- 
■"-  sions  from  plates  of  copper  and  blocks  of  wood,  the  means 
by  which  the  impressions  are  obtained  in  the  two  arts  of  copper 
and  wood  engraving,  are  directly  opposite  to  each  other.  The 
engraver  on  copper  hollows  out  of  the  plate  the  lines  of  the  im- 
pression he  wishes  to  produce,  while  the  engraver  in  wood  leaves 
them  standing  on  the  block.  The  engraver  in  copper  leaves  the 
surface  of  the  plate  higher  than  the  lines;  the  engraver  on 
wood  cuts  it  down  below  the  lines.  The  black  lines  in  a  copper- 
plate engraving  are  produced  by  incisions  or  grooves ;  the  black 
Vol.  XXXI.   No.  II.        '  /  <  '  T 


2G6  MODERN    WOOD    ENGRAVING. 

lines  in  :i  wood-cut  are  produced  by  prominences.  The  wood 
engraver  cuts  away  the  part  in  the  block  which  is  to  remain  white  or 
colourless ;  but  the  part  in  the  copper-plate  which  is  to  be  white 
in  the  engraving  is  left  untouched  by  the  engraver  on  copper. 
If  an  impression  of  a  plain  block  of  wood  were  taken  as  blocks 
are  printed,  it  would  present  one  uniform  surface  of  black,  but  if  an 
impression  were  taken  from  a  plate  of  copper  as  copper-plates  are 
printed,  it  would  be  colourless,  of  no  impression  at  all.  The 
wood  engraver  starts  from  black,  the  copper-plate  engraver  from 
white,  the  one  toils  to  get  white,  the  other  to  get  black.  If  the 
reader  refers  to  any  of  our  illustrations  in  which  black  is  conspi- 
cuous (the  "  Don  Padre"  is  a  special  instance  of  this)  he  will  see 
effects  of  black  or  the  deepest  shadow  produced  by  absolutely  no 
labour  whatever.  The  production  of  shadows  exactly  equal  in 
colour,  and  similar  in  character,  is  impossible  in  copper,  and 
when  he  sees  anything  approaching  them  in  a  copper-plate,  they 
are  the  result,  he  may  be  assured,  of  great  labour, 

The  manner  of  using  the  ink  in  the  two  arts  is  also  opposite ; 
it  is  put  into  the  hollow  lines  of  the  copper-plate,  but  on  the  up- 
standing lines  of  the  wooden  block.  The  block  is  like  the  type 
which  prints  the  words  the  reader  is  now  reading,  because  it  pro- 
duces its  black  lines  in  the  same  way  in  which  the  forms  of  the  letters 
are  made,  by  ink  put  upon  projecting  lines.  The  copper  or  steel- 
plate  is  placed  above  a  charcoal  fire,  and  warmed  before  the  ink  is 
rubbed  into  the  hollowed  lines  by  a  woollen  ball.  When  enough 
of  ink  is  thus  put  into  the  lines,  the  surface  of  the  plate  is  wiped 
with  a  rag,  and  cleaned  and  polished  with  the  palm  of  the  hand 
lightly  touched  with  whiting.  The  paper  is  then  laid  on  the 
plate,  and  the  engraving  is  obtained  by  pressing  the  paper  into 
the  inked  lines.  The  wooden  block  is  generally  inked  like  type, 
by  beating  with  a  ball  or  a  roller.  Another  difference  between 
engraving  on  wood  and  on  copper  is  that  in  the  latter  the  lines 
are  not  merely  cut,  they  are  also  corroded  into  the  copper  by 
aquafortis.* 

*  The  Chinese,  in  the  production  of  all  their  hooks,  use  wood  engraving.  The 
method  they  pursue,  says  Du  Halde,  is  as  follows: — The  work  intended  to  be 
printed  is  transcribed  by  a  careful  writer  upon  thin,  transparent  paper.  The 
engraver  {flues  each  of  the  written  sheets,  with  its  face  downwards,  upon  a  smooth 
tablet  of  pear  or  apple-tree,  or  some  other  hard  wood  ;  and  then,  with  gravers  and 
other  instruments,  he  cuts  the  wood  away  in  all  those  parts  upon  which  he  finds 
nothing  traced  ;  thus  leaving  the  transcribed  characters  ready  for  printing.  In 
this  manner  he  prepares  as  many  blocks  as  there  are  written  pages.  He  then 
prints  the  number  of  copies  immediately   wanted  ;    tor  he  can  always   print  more,  if 

they  are  required,  without  the  labour  of  re-composition  necessary  in  typography  -. 
nor  is  any  time  lost  in  correcting  the  proof  sheets,  lor,  as  he  is  guided  in  his 
engraving  by  the  strokes  of  the  written  copy,  or  perhaps  the  original  of  the  author 


COPPER    AND    WOOD.  267 

The  production  of  black  is  a  great  advantage  which  wood  possesses 
over  copper.  Hence  there  are  several  effects  in  which  the  wood 
engraver  excels.  It  is  true,  indeed,  that  as  absolute  black  does 
not  exist  in  shadow,  it  is  not  needed  in  the  representations  of  it ; 
but  there  is  still  a  great  advantage  in  having  it  ready  for  use  or  mo- 
dification as  wanted.  However  superior  copper  may  be  as  to  deli- 
cacy, and  sharpness,  and  variety,  and  the  touches  by  which  flesh 
tints  and  aerial  perspective  are  obtained,  whereby  even  the 
"  Nineveh  "  of  Powis — so  full  of  the  spirit  and  the  poetry  of  the 
prophecies,  where  the  solitary  stork,  a  thing  of  life,  is  the  image 
of  death,  so  deep  and  still  is  the  desolation  around  it — is  sur- 
passed ;  there  are  powers  in  the  shadows  of  the  wood-cut  which, 
when  wielded  by  a  master — a  Thompson  or  a  Williams — the  capa- 
cities of  copper  are  incapable  of  matching.  The  "  Brazen  Laver," 
by  Samuel  Williams,  by  its  skilful  contrast  of  extreme  light  and 
shadow,  seems  to  realize  the  very  sparkle  of  the  metal  and 
bubble  of  the  water.  It  is  to  a  perception  and  appreciation  of 
this  peculiar  advantage,  rather  than  to  any  surpassing  excellence 
of  the  engravings  themselves,  that  the  great  merits  of  the  French 
illustrations  of  '  Paul  at  Virginw''  are  owing; — the  draughts- 
men understood  the  blocks.  The  most  skilful  and  elaborate 
workmanship,  which  neglects  this  advantage  of  wood,  is  eclipsed 
by  even  an  inferior  order  of  art,  which  makes  a  happy  use  of  it. 
As  an  illustration  of  this  we  may  mention  in  contrast  with  the 
"  Brazen  Laver,"  the  "  Merchant  and  the  Jinnee,"  also  engraved 
by  Samuel  Williams.  The  latter,  though  more  imposing  to  the 
imagination,  and  more  elaborate  in  treatment,  yields  in  effect  to 
the  former,  with  its  sparkles,  its  bubbles,  and  its  blackness. 

But  the  greatest  advantage  wood  engraving  has  over  copper 
is  that  there  neither  need  be,  nor  is,  any  intermediate  person  or 
process  between  the  designer  and  the  engraver.  In  almost  all 
cases  of  engraving  on  copper,  the  picture  has  first  of  all  to  be 
reduced  from  its  original  size  to  the  intended  size  of  the  en- 
graving ;  in  all  cases  it  has  to  be  drawn  reversed  on  the  plate, 
and  after  being  thus  twice  translated,  usually  by  two  different 
translators,  the  process  of  engraving  not  the  picture  itself  but 
the  second  version  of  it  begins,  which  in  the  case  of  copper  is 
really  a  third  translation,  because  the  engraver  has  to  make  the 
lines,  which  in  the   other  case  are  made  by  the  draughtsman. 

himself,   it  is  impossible  for  him  to  make  any  mistakes,  if  the  copy  is  written 
with  exactness. 

In  the  museum  of  the  East  India  House  there  are  to  be  seen  several  Chinese 
blocks,  and  engravings  from  them,  and  also  the  instruments  they  use  for  the 
purpose  of  cutting  the  engraving  on  the  block, 


MODERN'    WOOD    ENGRAVING. 


The  great  end  of  the  whole  art  of  engraving  is  to  render  the 
spirit  and  genius  of  a  great  artist  accessible  to  the  thousands,  or 
the  millions,  by  embodying  them  in  cheap  and  portable  forms. 
Wood  engraving,  professedly  the  cheapest  and  most  portable  of 
all  the  representations  of  great  pictures,  excels  equally  in  ful- 
filling the  highest  mission  of  its  art,  by  the  superior  accuracy 
and  fidelity  with  which  it  represents  the  spirit  and  genius  of  the 
picture.  In  wood  engraving  the  draughtsman  makes  black 
lines  with  a  pen  or  pencil,  which  the  engraver  leaves  untouched : 
thus  the  black  lines  are  the  original  designs  themselves  put  into 
a  shape  for  printing. 

Cheapness  is  the  advantage  of  engravings  over  paintings,  and 
one  of  the  advantages  of  wood-cuts  over  copper-plates.  A  plate 
of  metal  is  useless  after  a  few  thousand  impressions  have  been 
taken  from  it,  while  a  wood-block  will  yield  sometimes  two  or 
three  hundred  thousand  impressions  :  and  thus  the  expenses — 
and  it  costs  much  less  to  produce  a  first  rate  wood-cut  than  it  does 
to  produce  a  first  rate  copper-plate — are  divided  among  nearly  a 
hundred  times  as  many  purchasers. 

This  circumstance,  by  bringing  copies  of  beautiful  pictures  to 
the  cottages  of  poor  men,  will  help  to  lessen  the  rudeness  which 
is  not  necessarily,  but  is  too  usually  associated  with  poverty. 
There  is  a  deep  morality  in  the  love  of  the  beautiful.  The 
Spartan  blessing,  "the  Beautiful  to  the  Good,"  had  its  fulfilment 
in  itself,  for  beauty  is  only  one  of  the  qualities  of  goodness.  The 
character  or  action  which  is  right,  is  of  necessity  also  beautiful, 
or  noble,  and  he  must  be  prepared  to  overlook  everything  great 
in  the  civilization  of  the  ancient  Greeks  who  does  not  see  that 
great  things  may  come  of  creating  a  love  of  art  among  all  ranks, 
since  all  the  inner  life  of  that  wonderful  people  was  derived  from 
their  reverence  of  beauty, — their  religion  was  the  religion  of  the 
beautiful.  .Serene  and  harmonious  objects,  by  the  very  emotions 
which  those  words  express,  make  the  soul  into  which  they  sink, 
like  themselves  by  doing  so  ;  the  beauty  which  the  eye  drinks 
re-appears  in  the  affection  which  the  heart  feels;  the  moral 
qualities  which  the  beautiful  has  in  itself  are  brought  out 
variously  and  sweetly  in  the  lives  of  the  lovers  of  it  :  the  white 
light  falls  on  the  flowers  and  re-appears  in  iris  hues.  The  mind 
which  has  fresh  upon  it  the  disgust  excited  by  the  affectations 
of  those  whose  talk  is  of  tone,  of  chiar'oseuro,  of  Claudes  and 
of  Guides,  may  be  disposed  to  think  any  approach  to  such  talk 
a  degradation  of  a  bold  peasantry, — and  we  sympathise  in  the 
thought, — but  a  single  conception  of  what  our  peasants  really  are, 
a  reminiscence  of  red-faced,  bare-necked  men  in  smock  frocks. 


CLOSE-LINING    AND    CROSS-HATCHING.  269 

sitting  at  the  ale-house  door  with  their  pipes  and  porter  pots, 
will  more  than  suffice  to  exhibit  the  improvement  which  would 
be  evinced  by  them  even  in  conceited  criticisms  on  cross-hatch- 
ings and  deep  tones,  stipplings  and  good  taste.  It  ought,  there- 
fore, to  be  admitted  that  his  fellow  men  owe  no  slight  obliga- 
tions to  Mr  Charles  Knight  for  the  great  impulse  he  has  given 
to  wood  engraving,  for  the  adaptations  he  has  made  of  it,  and 
the  moral  good  he  has  done  by  it  to  the  poor  of  the  whole 
civilized  world ;  —thanks  and  praise  be  to  the  man  who  has  mul- 
tiplied and  extended  the  pleasures  of  the  beautiful  where  they 
were  scarcely  known  before  !  * 

There  are  two  kinds  of  designs  in  wood  engraving — the  one 
in  which  the  draughtsman  dictates  and  lays  down  every  line,  the 
other  in  which  he  only  traces  outlines  and  paints  tints,  entrust- 
ing the  completion  of  his  purpose  to  the  artistical  feeling  of  the 
engraver.  The  order  of  our  illustrations  is  determined  in  the 
list  by  this  circumstance.  The  "  Bourgeois  Gentilhomme,"  &c, 
are  fac-simile  engravings,  in  which  every  line  is  drawn.  The 
"  Village  Hampden,"  the  "  Family  Picture,"  "  La  Fille  du  lioi 
Edmund,"  the  "  Storm,"  &c,  are  partly  tinted  and  partly  fac- 
simile ;  and  in  the  concluding  series  the  designer  left  the  effect 
of  the  lines  almost  wholly  to  the  genius  of  the  engraver. 

There  is  some  difficulty  and  much  labour,  though  of  a  merely 
mechanical  sort,  in  cutting  clearly  and  sharply  lines  on  wood, 
which  cross  and  intersect  each  other.  Such  work,  which  is  called 
"  cross-hatching,"  is  easily  done  on  copper  with  one  sweep  of 
the  burin, ^  but  in  wood  it  is  the  result  of  minute  and  tedious 
picking.  This  kind  of  work  makes  wood  engraving  costly ;  and 
where  the  engraver  is  limited  to  time  and  price,  he  substitutes  an 
easy  mode  of  getting  a  result  almost  as  effective,  by  making  his 
lines  thick  and  close  to  each  other.  The  reader  may  learn  the 
difference  between  close-lining  and  cross-hatching  by  referring 
to  the  shadows  and  dark  parts  of  our  illustration  of  the  "  Tar- 
tuffe."  The  engraver  here  began  his  shadow  with  cross-hatch- 
ing, and  then  betook  himself  to  the  less  laborious  and  cheaper 
work  of  close-lining.     In  Orrin  Smith's  eminently  effective  cut 

_  *  So  completely  did  the  '  Penny  Magazine  '  bring  the  art  of  engraving  on  wood 
into  general  notice,  that  a  certain  young  lord  is  reported  to  have  said,  wood 
engraving  was  invented  with  the  '  Penny  Magazine.'  The  '  Pictorial  Bible,'  and 
the  '  Pictorial  History  of  England,'  'the  Pictorial  Prayer  Book,'  the  new  edition 
of  the  '  Arabian  Nights,'  with  a  close  and  excellent  new  translation,  and  illustra- 
tions so  accurate,  that  the  appropriate  turbans  for  every  hour  of  the  day  are  given  ; 
and  lastly,  the  new  '  Pictorial  Shakspeare,'  just  announced,  continue  the  good 
work  which  the  '  Penny  Magazine '  began,  while  casts  of  the  engravings  in  the 
latter  arc  now  sent  to  every  part  of  the  civilized  world. 


270  MODERN  WOOD   ENGRAVING. 

of  "  Le  Meurtre  de  Sharp,"  we  see  all  the  gradations  of  shadow 
which  the  picture  requires  produced  by  comparatively  little 
labour,  avoiding-  cross-hatchings,  whilst,  in  several  other  of  our 
best  illustrations,  the  tints  of  colour  are  got  by  cross-hatchings, 
which  involve  a  great  amount  of  labour  and  skill.* 

There  is  a  consideration  of  a  merely  mechanical  kind,  without 
a  regard  to  which  it  is  impossible  to  judge  rightly  of  the  merits 
of  a  wood  engraving— to  assign  to  the  designer  and  to  the  engraver 
their  due  share  of  merit — or  to  see  all  the  causes  which  affect 
the  production  of  the  beauties  or  the  defects  of  the  work  of 
art.  The  printer  is  a  most  important  party  in  the  process; 
not  merely  as  the  organ-blower  contributed  to  playing  the 
music  of  Handel ;— he  takes  a  part  in  a  trio.  A  wood  cut  may 
be  drawn  by  a  first-rate  draughtsman  and  engraved  by  a  Thomp- 
son, yet  if  the  pressman  is  not  also  an  artist,  the  product  will  be 
far  from  beautiful.  Hence  there  are  scarcely  more  than  half  a 
dozen  printers  in  London  who  can  do  full  justice  to  a  wood-cut. 
It  is  only  a  few  years  since  the  Chiswick  press  alone  had  any 
repute  for  printing  from  wood — but  great  improvements  were  in- 
troduced by  the  late  Mr  Vizetelly  and  his  partner  MrBranston, — 
and  the  printing  of  wood-cuts  is  now  an  object  to  some  of  the  first 
firms.  A  few  words  will  explain  how  it  is  that  the  taste  of  the 
pressman  acts  upon  the  engraving.  In  pressing  the  paper  upon 
the  block,  the  parts  intended  to  be  blackest  must  endure  the 
heaviest,  the  whitest  the  lightest,  pressure— and  all  the  degrees 
and  tints  of  shade  must  be  regulated  and  graduated  propor- 
tionally. The  pressman  is  the  master  of  the  perspective — 
brilliancy  and  delicacy  wait  at  his  disposal,  and  all  those  num- 
berless niceties  of  which  the  tasteful,  as  distinguished  from  the 
coarse,  the  glaring,  and  the  vulgar,  is  made  up,  are  dependant  on 
his  skill.  * 

"  When  an  engraving,"  says  Mr  Savage,  in  his  Practical  Hints 
on  Decorative  Printing,  "  is  to  be  printed,  neither  the  pressure  nor 
the  impression  ought  to  be  uniformly  equal ;  if  they  be,  the  effect 

*  Most  Engravings  arc  the  product  of  several  hands,  and  there  are  numerous 
engravers  to  whom  the  whole  work  of  an  engraving  is  never  trusted.  Figures 
are  assigned  to  one,  landscape  to  another,  sky  to  a  third,  and  the  harmony  of 
the  whole  is  adjusted  by  the  master.  He  portions  out  the  work  according  to  the 
aptness  of  his  assistants  for  it,  and  he  must  possess  all  the  talents  of  an  artist  to 

direct  skilfully  the    mechanism  of  a  manufacturer Almost  all  our  illustrations 

are  the  works  of  the  artists  themselves  whose  names  they  hear.  The  "  Sturm" 
and  "  Prison  Scene"  by  Jackson  ;  the  "  Elba,"  by  Orrin  Smith  ;  those  by  the 
Williamses,  and  by  Landells,  C.  Thompson,  Vasey,  Gray,  and  Green;  the  "  Snowy 
Owl,"  "  Bourgeois  Gentilhomme."  "  Village  Hampden,"  "  La  Fille  du  Roi  Ed- 
mund," and  "  Diner  Royal  at  Versailles,"  by  J.  Thompson,  are  the  actual  per- 
formances of  these  artists. 


MODE    OF    PRINTING.  271 

that  is  intended  to  be  produced  by  the  artist  will  fail ;  and  instead 
of  light,  middle  tint,  and  shade,  an  impression  will  be  produced 
that  possesses  none  of  them  in  perfection ;  some  parts  being  too 
hard  and  black,  and  other  parts  neither  pressure  nor  colour  enough, 
with  obscurity  and  roughness ;  and  without  any  of  the  mildness  of 
middle  tint,  which  ought  to  pervade  great  part  of  an  engraving, 
and  on  which  the  eye  reposes  after  viewing  the  strong  lights  and 
the  deep  shades. 

"To  produce  the  desired  effect  with  engravings  great  nicety  and 
patience  are  necessary  in  the  pressman ;  for  a  single  thickness  of 
thin  India  paper  is  frequently  required  over  very  small  parts,  and 
the  edges  of  it  even  pared  down,  where  the  engraving  is  fine  ;  and 
I  would  advise  that  the  overlay  should  never  be  cut  at  the  edges  ; 
but  even  where  great  delicacy  of  shape  is  not  required,  that  it 
should  be  torn  into  the  shape  wanted,  which  reduces  the  edges, 
and  makes  the  additional  pressure  blend  with  the  surrounding 
parts. 

"  In  particular  parts  the  impression  will  sometimes  come  up  too 
full ;  it  will  then  be  necessary  to  add  an  additional  tympan  sheet, 
and  cut  those  parts  away  from  it,  scraping  the  edges  which  come 
too  hard ;  and  scraping  away  half  the  thickness  of  a  tympan  sheet, 
in  small  parts  that  require  to  be  a  little  lightened,  will  improve  the 
impression. 

"  Engravings  that  are  in  the  vignette  form  require  great  care  to 
keep  the  edges  light  and  clear ;  and  in  general  it  is  necessary  to 
scrape  away  one  or  two  thicknesses  of  paper,  in  order  to  lighten  the 
impression  and  keep  it  clean  ;  for  the  edges  being  irregular,  and 
parts,  such  as  small  branches  of  trees,  leaves,  &c,  straggling,  for 
the  purpose  of  giving  freedom  to  the  design,  are  subject  to  come 
too  hard,  and  are  liable  to  picks,  which  give  great  trouble  to  press- 
men, and  are  difficult  to  be  kept  clear  of,  particularly  with  a  wooden 
platen  which  from  wear  has  become  uneven.  In  these  cases  high 
bearers,  placed  round  the  block,  will  be  found  advantageous  for  the 
purpose  of  equalizing  the  pressure  on  the  surface  of  the  engraving  ; 
and  they  also  protect  the  edges  from  the  severity  of  the  pull,  which 
is  always  injurious  to  the  delicacy  of  the  external  lines.  When 
great  nicety  of  impression  is  required  in  a  vignette,  it  will  be  found 
beneficial,  after  the  engraving  is  beat  with  ink,  to  take  a  small  ball 
without  ink,  and  beat'  the  extremities  lightly  :  this  will  not  only 
take  away  any  superfluity  of  ink,  but  will  be  the  means  of  prevent- 
ing picks,  and  give  to  the  edges  lightness  and  delicacy,  particularly 
where  distances  are  represented. 

"  The  pressman  will  find  it  an  advantage,  if  it  be  necessary  to  do 
full  justice  to  an  engraving,  to  have  a  good  impression  from  the 
engraver,  and  place  it  before  him  as  a  pattern ;  and  then  arrange  the 
overlays  and  tympan  sheets,  till  he  produces  a  fac-simile  in  effect. 
But,  as  I  observed  before,  his  best  lesson  will  be  when  he  can 
obtain  the  assistance  of  the  artist  at  the  press  side,  as  by  that  means 


272  MODERN  WOOD  ENGRAVING. 

lie  will  obtain  more  instruction  of  what  is  required  than  by  any 
other  method.  The  light  parts  of  a  fine  engraving  require  little 
pressure  ;  but  the  depths  should  be  overlaid,  so  as  to  produce  a  full 
and  firm  impression." 

The  older  masters  of  wooct  engraving,  Albert  Divrer  among 
the  rest,  as  well  as  Bewick  at  a  later  time,  used  opposite  means 
for  the  same  purpose  in  printing.  Instead  of  an  unequal  pressure 
on  an  even  surface,  they  used  an  equal  pressure  on  an  uneven 
surface,  by  lowering  the  surface  of  the  block  according  to  the 
sorts  of  tint  required.  The  overlaid  block  can  only  be  printed 
with  the  hand  press,  at  a  very  slow  rate — not  above  50  im- 
pressions in  an  hour ;  but  a  lowered  block  makes  the  work  of 
the  pressman  merely  mechanical,  and  enables  the  block  to  be 
printed  by  the  machine  at  a  speed  of  800  copies  an  hour. 

This  mode  of  lowering  blocks  has  been  applied  to  the  steam 
press,  and  with  what  success  every  one  may  judge  from  Rubens' 
"  Descent  from  the  Cross,"  the  "  Blind  Boy"  of  Murillo,  and 
the  "  Knife  Grinder "  of  Teniers,  in  the  *  Penny  Magazine.' 
Such  progress  has  been  made  in  printing  in  this  way,  that 
though  steam  has  never  yet  worked  blocks  of  delicacy  equal 
to  the  illustrations  of  the  '  Arabian  Nights,'  there  need  be  no 
doubt  of  attaining  at  last  all  but  an  equality  to  the  hand 
press.  By  getting  rid  of  the  dearness  and  delay  of  overlaying 
and  the  hand  press,  the  cost  will  be  incalculably  diminished. 

We  must  say  a  few  words  respecting  the  materials  used  in  wood 
engraving.  The  ink  must  be  impalpably  smooth  and  equally 
mixed,  in  order  to  cover  completely  the  surface  of  the  block, 
and  come  easily  from  the  block  to  the  paper.  The  paper  is 
still  more  important.  India  paper  from  China,  which  until  lately 
was  supplied  from  the  lining  of  tea-chests  and  wrappers  of  silk, 
is  decidedly  the  best,  and  takes  off  the  finest  impressions.  A  hard 
stiff  paper  defies  the  skill  of  the  best  pressman,  and  a  gritty  or 
knotty  paper  riddles  the  block,  making  the  impression  look  as  if 
covered  with  white  dots — doing  more  harm  in  taking  off  a  few 
hundred  prints,  than  with  a  soft  paper  would  be  done  by  as 
many  thousands.  The  paper  ought  to  be  carefully  damped,  the 
moisture  equally  distributed  by  turning  for  some  days  before  use; 
if  too  wet,  the  ink  is  not  taken  in  equally;  if  too  dry,  the  impres- 
sion will  be  rough  and  uneven. 

The  woods  most  in  use  in  engraving  are  the  box  and  pear- 
tree.*  The  best  boxwood  is  imported  from  the  Levant:  the 
tree  of  our  own  country  does  not  grow  large   enough.     The 

*  Papillon  treats  fully  of  the  woods  best  adapted  to  the  graver,  in  his  •  Traite 
Historiquc  et  Tratique  de  la  Gravurc  en  Bois.' 


ORIGIN    AND    HISTORY.  270 

wood  is  cut  into  slices  across  the  grain :  formerly,  when  used  by 
Albert  Durer  and  his  successors,  it  was  cut  into  planks  length- 
wise or  at  the  side  of  the  grain ;  and,  until  very  recently,  the 
French  used  it  in  this  way.  Fine  lines  are  unattainable  by  the 
old  method,  and  knives  instead  of  gravers  were  then  used  to  cut 
the  wood. 

Casts  of  wood-blocks  may  be  taken  in  metal  and  multiplied  with- 
out end.  When  the  matrix  or  mould  is  made  of  plaster,  the 
cast  is  called  a  Stereotype ;  when  of  metal,  a  Poly  type,  or  Cliche.* 
A  print  taken  from  a  Polytype  is  almost  equal  in  the  sharpness 
of  its  lines  to  one  taken  from  the  original  wood-block,  though  it 
has  not  the  mellowness  of  the  impression  from  the  block  itself. 
A  very  keen  and  experienced  eye  alone  could  discover  that  our 
illustration  of  "  Le  Loup  plaidant  contre  le  Kenard,"  is  an  im- 
pression from  metal,  and  not  from  wood.  In  stereotyping,  the 
humidity  of  the  plaster  is  apt  to  swell  the  wood-block,  and  the 
delicate  parts  become  rough  and  coarse  in  the  stereotype ;  and, 
besides,  the  plaster  does  not  penetrate  the  fine  lines  of  the 
wood  so  subtilly  as  the  metal. 

The  origin  and  early  history  of  wood  engraving  are  obscure , 
and  entangled  in  dry  and  thorny  controversies.  The  antiqua- 
rian will  be  in  a  condition,  perhaps,  to  dogmatise  about  whether 
the  origin  of  it  belongs  to  the  Italians  or  the  Germans,  the 
Chinese  or  the  Dutch,  or  will  at  least  have  made  an  approach  to 
the  discovery,  when  he  has  found  out  the  immortal  inventor  of 
that  primeval  wood  block,  the  butter-print,  and  added  it  to  his 
store  of  antediluvian  antiquities,  in  which  already,  as  Burns 
says — 

"  Of  Eve's  first  fire  he  has  a  cinder  ; 

Auld  Tubal-Cain's  fire  shool  and  fender  ;— 
A  broomstick  o'  the  Witch  of  Endor, 
Weel  shod  wi'  brass." 

In  all  the  accounts  we  have  seen  ot  the  origin  and  progress 
of  engraving,  there  has  been  a  sad  lack  of  every  kind  of  insight 
into  the  social  agencies  which  preside  over  the  fine  arts.  The 
origin  and  development  of  an  art,  instead  of  suggesting  inqui- 
ries why  the  lovers  of  beauty  have  sought  one  form  of  it  in 
one  age  and  a  different  in  another,  is  merely  an  opportunity 

*  The  celebrated  assignats  of  the  French  Revolution  were  printed  from 
"  Cliches,"  the  originals  having  been  cut  in  metal,  in  relief,  in  the  manner  of 
wood.  The  "  mouion,"  or  machine  with  which  the  Cliches  were  struck,  is  now  in 
the  possession  of  Mr  Charles  Thompson,  of  Paris,  who  uses  the  very  machine  in 
the  production  of  his  Polytypes  or  Polytypages. 


SY4  MODERN  WOOD  ENGRAVING. 

Seized  by  every  succeeding  writer  for  complimenting  his  pre- 
decessors on  the  badness  of  their  logic,  the  sweetness  of  their 
tempers,  and  the  size  of  their  mistakes. 

The  beautiful  assumes  new  shapes  and  comes  up  in  new  places 
in  consequence  of  changes  in  the  institutions  and  manners  of 
society : — 

"  As  from  its  fathomless  abode,  a  spring 
Breaks  on  the  bosom  of  a  sullen  lake."* 

The  ancients  were  not  destitute  of  engraving  because  they  could 
not  have  found  it  out,  and  used  it  had  they  chosen,  but  because 
they  were  not  book-men,  and  therefore  did  not  give  themselves 
to  the  decoration  of  books.  Engraving  is  an  offshoot  of  Chris- 
tianity. It  comes  from  that  great  change  in  the  manners  of 
men  by  which,  for  the  first  time  in  the  history  of  the  world,  and 
for  nearly  a  thousand  years  together,  all  the  thoughtful  men  in 
Europe  were  made  solitary  students  instead  of  social  inquirers, 
readers  in  silent  cells  instead  of  debaters  in  groves  and  gardens. 
The  poet  and  philosopher  of  old,  in  Greece  and  Rome,  addressed 
popular  audiences,  and  not  as  now,  readers  in  privacy : — 

"  Athens  the  eye  of  Greece,  mother  of  arts, 
And  eloquence,  native  to  famous  wits, 
Or  hospitable  ;  in  her  sweet  recess, 
City  or  suburban,  studious  walks  and  shades : 
See  there  the  olive  grove  of  Academe, 
Plato's  retirement,  where  the  attic  bird 
Trills  her  thick-Avarbl'd  notes  the  summer  long  ; 
There  flowr'y  hill  Hymettus,  with  the  sound 
Of  bees,  industrious  murmur,  oft  invites 
To  studious  musing  ;  the  Ilissus  rolls 
His  whispering  stream." 

The  picture  in  almost  every  mind,  of  a  student  in  the  middle 
ages,  is  that  of  an  ecclesiastic  in  a  cell — the  rich  light  of  the 
stained  glass  from  his  gothic  window  falling  on  his  large  oak- 
bound  volume,  and  the  spread  pages  of  bright  black  letters 
embellished  all  round  with  radiantly-coloured  figures.  The  pro- 
gress of  books  is  also  the  progress  of  engraving  which  embellishes 
them.  To  the  monastic  institutions,  and  the  way  of  life  and 
the  manner  of  study  they  have  directly  and  indirectly  trans- 
mitted to  us — afterwards  modified  by  the  fact  that  the  merchant 
and  soldier  have  become  studious  like  the  priest,  and  by  the 
yet  more  recent  irruption  of  the  poor  into  the  still  and  retired 

*   From  the  *  Athenian  Captive. 


LIVING   WOOD   ENGRAVERS.  275 

chambers  of  study — wo  owe  the  genius  and  skill,  the  progres- 
sive beauty  and  the  widening-  extension,  of  the  art  of  en- 
graving. 

A  few  words  on  the  principal  engravers  on  wood,  and  de- 
signers for  it,  of  the  present  day,  will  appropriately  conclude  our 
remarks. 

Though  great  merits  belong  to  others,  there  are  two  families 
who  may  be  said  to  be  at  this  moment  at  the  head  of  this  art — 
the  Williamses  and  the  Thompsons — families  which  contain 
members  allowed  by  all  to  stand  highest,  and  to  whom  the  art  is 
almost  a  family  pursuit.  We  have  already  alluded  to  the  skill  of 
Samuel  Williams,  who  is  self-taught,  in  light  and  shade,  and 
his  versatility  of  talent  and  great  variety  of  touch  may  be 
seen  by  a  comparison  of  his  "  Arch  of  Titus"  and  his  "  Irish 
Row."  His  younger  brother,  Thomas  Williams,  who  likewise 
is  partial  to  highly-coloured  designs,  is  only  second  to  Thomp- 
son in  engraving  the  human  face  and  figure,  and  is  almost  equally 
successful  in  landscape.  Both  brothers  possess  much  talent  as 
draughtsmen  and  painters.  Their  sister,  Mary  Ann  Williams, 
has  executed  some  fac-simile  engravings  of  exquisite  delicacy, 
from  the  designs  of  Francais,  in  the  '  Paul  et  Virginie/  and 
there  are  few  tinted  landscapes  more  brilliant  than  her  "  Jardin  du 
Paria."  Of  the  Thompsons,  without  mentioning  those  who  have 
their  laurels  yet  to  win,  there  are  two  brothers  who  are  highly 
distinguished  —  John,  a  native  of  Manchester,  and  Charles, 
both  pupils  of  the  elder  Branston,  and  sons  of  a  respectable 
London  merchant.  Charles  Thompson,  the  younger  brother, 
went  to  Paris  in  1816,  partly  for  pleasure,  and  partly  to  establish 
himself  as  a  wood  engraver  if  he  saw  an  opening.  He  found 
but  two  or  three  engravers  on  wood  in  all  Paris,  and  they  were 
inferior  to  the  English  engravers  both  in  talent  and  in  their  mode 
of  engraving.  They  still  cut,  like  the  old  masters  of  wood  en- 
graving, on  the  side  of  the  grain  of  the  block,  with  instru- 
ments like  knives,  gouges,  and  chisels  ;  whereas  the  English  used 
tools  of  the  same  form  as  the  steel  and  copper-plate  engravers, 
and  cut  on  the  end  of  the  grain.  Charles  Thompson  was  im- 
mediately induced  to  settle  in  Paris;  he  was  employed  by  the 
Imprimerie  Royale  and  the  publishers,  and  received  two  silver 
medals  from  the  hands  of  Louis  the  Eighteenth  himself;  and 
when  Charles  the  Tenth  presented  medals  to  persons  eminent 
in  science  and  art,  he  received  a  very  handsome  gold  medal,  and 
was  a  guest  at  the  splendid  entertainment  given  by  the  Minister 
of  the  Interior  on  the  occasion.  The  English  Government  has 
not  yet  concerned  itself  about  art  in  this  form,  else  Ave  should 
have  had  to  mention  similar  honours  conferred  on  John  Thompson, 


276  MODERN  WOOD  ENGRAVING. 

confessedly  the  first  in  his  profession  in  Europe.  When  but 
fourteen  years  of  age,  the  great  interest  he  took  in  drawings  and 
prints  induced  his  father  to  make  him  a  pupil  of  the  elder  Branston, 
who  was  then  what  is  called  an  engraver  in  general.  The  latter 
half  of  his  term  of  tuition  was  given  solely  to  wood  engraving ;  and 
soon  after  its  expiration  he  abandoned  the  manner  of  his  teacher, 
and  formed  a  style  of  his  own.  He  was  supported  by  the  advice 
of  Thurston,  then  the  principal  draughtsman  for  wood,  and  who, 
being  himself  a  pupil  of  James  Heath,  had  a  general  and  pro- 
found knowledge  of  engraving.  Being  the  engraver  selected  to 
execute  the  embellishments  of  the  publications  for  which  the 
Chiswick  press  became  celebrated,  his  reputation  was  established, 
and  the  position  then  awarded  him  in  his  profession  he  has  ever 
since  maintained.  The  distinguishing  traits  of  this  artist  are  the 
exquisite  clearness  and  delicacy  of  his  lines,  and  the  felicity  and 
fidelity  of  his  delineations  of  the  human  figure.  Before  com- 
mencing an  engraving,  he  makes  the  character  of  his  subject  an 
especial  and  earnest  study,  and  spares  no  pains  to  mark  the  history 
of  every  detail.  "  The  Village  Hampden  "  exhibits  his  skill,  in  the 
sturdy  and  intrepid  face  of  the  boy  who  is  demanding  a  justice  he  is 
prepared  to  enforce, — in  the  sympathy  of  the  little  girls  who  are 
looking  on, — and,  above  all,  in  the  expression  of  malice  which 
appears  through  the  cowardice  and  fear  of  the  convicted  aggressor 
himself.  If  anything  could  atone  for  the  original  fault  of  the 
designer,  who  has  illustrated  heroism  of  historic  dignity,  by  a 
school-boy  incident,  the  skill  displayed  by  Thompson  would 
doit.  "The  Boudoir"  and  the  "Dance  al  Fresco"  are  ex- 
quisite in  their  gracefulness.  In  the  latter  the  male  and  female 
forms,  so  full  of  life  and  elegance,  beauty  and  spirit,  with  the 
group  of  dancers  seen  in  the  distance,  make  up  a  work  of  art, 
in  which,  though  doubtless  the  merits  of  the  designer  are  great, 
he  owes  much  to  the  talent  of  his  engraver.  The  figures  of  the 
"  Supplicants  to  Duke  Robert"  are  equally  remarkable  for 
true  and  beautiful  expression ;  but  the  gem  of  our  collection  is 
the  "  Diner  Royal  at  Versailles,"  by  this  artist.  At  first  sight  it  is 
hardly  possible  to  detect  whether  this  is  an  engraving  on  copper 
or  wood — of  such  minute  delicacy  are  the  touches,  and  so  skilfully 
graduated  are  the  tints.  Almost  all  our  wood  engravers  gene- 
rously declare  this  to  be  the  best  engraving  ever  executed  on 
wood.  The  mere  amount  of  toil  crowded  into  such  small  space 
is  wonderful,  but  the  variety  of  the  costumes,  and  the  ease  and 
grace  and  character  of  the  personages,  the  complete  Mastery  of 
perspective,  and  the  reality  imparted  to  the  decorations  of  the 
apartment,  form  together  a  work  not  likely  to  be  soon  surpassed 
even  in  this  rapidly  advancing  art. 


LIVING   WOOD    ENGRAVERS.  277 

The  name  of  Orrin  Smith  occurs  often  on  both  French  and 
English  engravings.  He  is  an  able  and  intelligent  cultivator 
of  "his  art,  and  has  introduced  improvements  and  attempted 
effects,  especially  in  landscape,  which  have  advanced  it.  He 
learned  the  use  of  the  graver  from  Samuel  Williams.  Some  of  his 
landscapes  are  exquisite — how  beautiful  is  his  "  Elba,"  waves, 
skies,  mountains,  and  vessels,  with  still  shadows  on  the  sea ! — and 
there  is  much  merit  of  a  different  kind  in  his  "  Murder  of 
Sharp." 

The  pupils  of  Bewick  now  alive  are,  we  believe,  Harvey, 
Clennell,  Nesbit,  Jackson,  and  E.  Landells.  The  last,  is  one 
of  the  best  engravers  of  animals  on  wood.  The  spirit  and 
truth  of  his  "  Black  Bear"  and  "  Tiger"  are  admirable,  and  in  the 
latter  the  difference  between  the  woolly  hair  of  the  cub  and  the 
long  hair  of  the  mother,  a  delicate  distinction,  is  made  manifest. 
"  A  Family  Picture,"  —  an  odd  name  for  an  English  terrier, 
an  Irish  lady-hound,  and  a  Scotch  terrier,  is  full  of  spirit  and 
character  —  the  dogs  typify  the  nationality  of  the  three 
kingdoms.  John  Jackson  has  engraved  a  large  part  of  the 
'  Penny  Magazine'  and  of  the  first  series  of  Northcote's  '  Fables,' 
all  the  «  Pictorial  Prayer  Book,'  and  the  Cattle  and  Sheep  in  the 
"  Farmer's  Series ;"  both  he  and  Bewick  are  natives  of  Oving- 
ham  in  Northumberland.  The  delicacy  of  the  "  Prison  Scene," 
and  the  "  Sea  Piece"  prove  him  a  worthy  pupil  of  his  old  master. 
It  is  only  necessary  to  repeat  the  names  of  Harvey,  Clennell, 
arid  Nesbit,  to  recal  to  every  one  acquainted  with  the  best  em- 
bellished works  of  the  last  quarter  of  a  century,  the  qualities  by^ 
which  they  have  made  themselves  distinguished.  The  merits  of 
the  first  of  these  artists  as  a  designer  belong  less  to  this  subject 
than  to  that  of  Art  in  general. 

Whatever  superiority  our  wood  engravers  may  have  over  the 
French,  they  as  yet  beat  us  in  design,  because  few  of  our  best 
draughtsmen  have  yet  condescended  to  design  for  wood.  The 
principal  exceptions  since  the  time  of  Bewick  have  been  Thurs- 
ton, Stothard,  and  Harvey,  to  whom  we  hope  may  now  be 
added  Edwin  Landseer,  Wilkie,  Callcott,  and  Mulready.*  The 
advantage  to  an  eminent  artist,  of  a  mode  of  engraving  which 
furnishes  him  with  a  perfect  fac-simile  of  his  own  design  instead 

*  The  following  list  comprises  most  of  the  French  artists  of  eminence,  who  have 
made  designs  on  wood  ;  and  it  is  a  list  of  which  France  has  reason  to  be  proud  : — 
P.  De  la  Roche,  Eugene  Lami,  A.  Deveria,  A.  Scheffer,  Robert  Fleury,  Tony 
Johannot,  Jules  David,  Tellier,  De  la  Croix,  Victor  Adam,  Foussereau,  J.  Grand- 
ville,  J.  Lecurieux,  J.  Gigoux,  Levasseur,  Marville,  Pemot,  Francais,  Paul  Huet, 
Meissonier,  Isabey,  Jacques. 


278  MODERN  WOOD  ENGRAVING. 

of  a  copy  of  a  copy,  was  experienced  by  Stothard  in  the  supe- 
riority of  his  beautiful  illustrations  of  Rogers's  '  Italy/  as  de- 
signed on  wood  by  himself,  to  the  same  subjects  as  afterwards 
executed  on  steel. 

Many  reasons  have  urged  us  to  undertake  the  toil  and  cost  of 
this  article  and  its  illustrations:  on  some  of  them  we  have 
already  dwelt  sufficiently;  there  is  yet  another  on  which  we 
would  insist. 

To  that  large  portion  of  educated  gentlewomen  of  the  middle 
classes,  who  now  earn  a  subsistence  chiefly  as  governesses, 
we  wished  to  point  out  this  art  as  an  honourable,  elegant, 
and  lucrative  employment,  easily  acquired,  and  every  way 
"becoming  their  sex  and  habits.  We  have  already  done  honour 
to  the  exquisite  delicacy  and  elegance  of  the  engravings  of 
Mary  Ann  Williams ;  we  venture  to  say  that  few  women  of 
taste,  whatever  their  rank  in  life,  can  look  on  "  Le  Jardin 
du  Paria  au  lever  de  PAurore"  without  envying  the  artist  her 
power  of  producing  a  scene  so  beautiful,  and  of  exciting  in 
thousands  the  pleasing  emotions  inseparable  from  it.  Apart  from 
all  pecuniary  considerations,  to  be  able  to  do  it  is  an  elegant 
accomplishment,  and  the  study  of  the  principles  and  details  of 
taste  which  it  implies,  is  a  cultivating  and  refining  process  to 
every  mind.  All  that  can  be  taught  of  the  art  may  be  learnt 
in  a  few  lessons,  and  thus  an  acquirement  made,  which  will 
afford  no  slight  protection  against  misfortunes  to  which,  in  this 
commercial  country,  even  the  richest  are  exposed — and  a  means 
of  livelihood  obtained,  which,  without  severing  from  home,  with- 
out breaking  up  family  assemblies,  is  at  once  more  happy, 
healthy,  tasteful,  and  profitable  than  almost  any  other  of  the 
pursuits  at  present  practised  by  women.  The  lady  we  have 
named  is  not  alone  in  the  practice  of  this  art :  we  might  name 
also  Eliza  Thompson,  and  Mary  and  Elizabeth  Clint,  who  have 
furnished  excellent  engravings  for  the  '  Paul  et  Virgiiiie;'  and 
we  have  heard  of  several  daughters  of  professional  and  mercantile 
men,  not  likely  to  be  dependant  on  their  own  exertions  for  sup- 
port, who  have  Avisely,  by  learning  this  art,  acquired  both  an 
accomplishment  and  a  profession.  The  occupations,  we  may 
also  add,  are  few  indeed  to  which  gentlewomen  of  this  class  can 
more  worthily  devote  themselves,  than  to  an  art  which  peculiarly 
aims  and  is  peculiarly  fitted  to  enhance  the  enjoyments  and  re- 
finements of  the  people)  by  scattering  through  all  the  homes  of 
the  land  the  most  beautiful  delineations  of  scenery,  of  historic 
incidents,  and  of  distinguished  persons.  X. 


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